Method Of Using A Biosensor

ABSTRACT

A biosensor ( 102 ) for determining the presence or amount of a substance in a sample and methods of use of the biosensor ( 102 ) are provided. The biosensor ( 102 ) for receiving a user sample to be analyzed includes a mixture for electrochemical reaction with an analyte. The mixture includes an enzyme, a mediator and an oxidizable species as an internal reference.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a division of application Ser. No. 10/590,867 filedAug. 24, 2006, which has been allowed; application Ser. No. 10/590,867filed Aug. 24, 2006 is a nationalized application of Application No.PCT/US2005/03622 filed Feb. 4, 2005, which claims priority toApplication No. 60/542,362 filed on Feb. 6, 2004, which are allincorporated by reference in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a biosensor, and, moreparticularly, to a new and improved biosensor, including an oxidizablespecies as an internal reference and methods of use of the biosensor,for determining the presence or amount of a substance in a sample.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

The quantitative determination of analytes in body fluids is of greatimportance in the diagnoses and maintenance of certain physiologicalabnormalities. For example lactate, cholesterol and bilirubin should bemonitored in certain individuals. In particular, the determination ofglucose in body fluids is of great importance to diabetic individualswho must frequently check the level of glucose in their body fluids as ameans of regulating the glucose intake in their diets. While theremainder of the disclosure herein will be directed towards thedetermination of glucose, it is to be understood that the new andimproved sensor element and method of use of this invention can be usedfor the determination of other analytes upon selection of theappropriate enzyme.

Methods for determining analyte concentration in fluids can be based onthe electrochemical reaction between the analyte and an enzyme specificto the analyte and a mediator which maintains the enzyme in its initialoxidation state. Suitable redox enzymes include oxidases,dehydrogenases, catalase and peroxidase. For example, in the case whereglucose is the analyte, the reaction with glucose oxidase and oxygen isrepresented by equation:

In the initial step of the reaction represented by equation (A), glucosepresent in the test sample converts the enzyme (E_(ox)), such as theoxidized flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) center of the enzyme into itsreduced form (E_(red)), for example, (FADH₂). Because these redoxcenters are essentially electrically insulated within the enzymemolecule, direct electron transfer to the surface of a conventionalelectrode does not occur to any measurable degree in the absence of anunacceptably high cell voltage. An improvement to this system involvesthe use of a nonphysiological redox coupling between the electrode andthe enzyme to shuttle electrons between the (FADH₂) and the electrode.This is represented by the following scheme in which the redox coupler,typically referred to as a mediator, is represented by M:

Glucose+GO(FAD)→gluconolactone+GO(FADH₂)

GO(FADH₂)+2M_(ox)→GO(FAD)+2M_(red)+2H⁺

2M_(red)→2M_(ox)+2e⁻(at the electrode)

In the scheme, GO(FAD) represents the oxidized form of glucose oxidaseand GO(FAD H₂) indicates its reduced form. The mediating speciesM_(ox)/M_(red) shuttles electrons from the reduced enzyme to theelectrode thereby oxidizing the enzyme causing its regeneration in situ.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,620,579 and 5,653,863 issued to Genshaw et al., andassigned to the present assignee, disclose apparatus and method fordetermining the concentration of an analyte in a fluid test sample byapplying the fluid test sample to the surface of a working electrode,which is electrochemically connected to a counter electrode, and whichsurface bears a composition comprising an enzyme specific for theanalyte. A mediator is reduced in response to a reaction between theanalyte and the enzyme. An oxidizing potential is applied between theelectrodes to return at least a portion of the mediator back to itsoxidized form before determining the concentration of the analyte tothereby increase the accuracy of the analyte determination. Followingthis initially applied potential, the circuit is switched to an opencircuit or to a potential that substantially reduces the current tominimize the rate of electrochemical potential at the working electrode.A second potential is applied between the electrodes and the currentgenerated in the fluid test sample is measured to determine analyteconcentration. Optionally, the accuracy of the analyte determination isfurther enhanced algorithmically.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Important aspects of the present invention are to provide a new andimproved biosensor for determining the presence or amount of a substancein a sample including an oxidizable species as an internal reference andmethod of use of the biosensor.

In brief, a biosensor for determining the presence or amount of asubstance in a sample and methods of use of the biosensor are provided.The biosensor for receiving a user sample to be analyzed includes amixture for electrochemical reaction with an analyte. The mixtureincludes an enzyme, a mediator and an oxidizable species as an internalreference.

The internal reference is defined as the oxidizable species which in oneembodiment can be further defined as the reduced form of a reversibleredox couple that has an equal or higher redox potential than that ofthe mediator. The internal reference acts to increase the responsecurrent additively for operation potentials that oxidize both speciesand in the case where glucose is the analyte, a total response currentis represented by:

I _(total) =I _(int-ref) +I _(glucose)

I_(int-ref)∝(internal reference) and I_(glucose)∝(glucose);

Where I_(int-ref) is the portion of the total response current due tothe internal reference, while I_(glucose) is due to the oxidation ofmediator proportional to the glucose concentration.

In accordance with features of the invention, the internal reference canbe either the same mediator species or an oxidizable species with ahigher redox potential than the mediator. Thus for biosensors with a lowoperation potential oxidizing only the mediator, the current I_(int-ref)will be zero. However, for biosensors with a higher operation potentialthat oxidizes both species, the total response current will be the sumof the portion due to internal reference and that due to glucose. Sincethe internal reference concentration is fixed, the calibration slope ofthe sensor will only depend on the sensor response for glucose while theintercept will depend on the added amount of the internal reference. Inanother words, the internal reference will only offset the intercept andwill not change the calibration slope. Thus, the concept of internalreference provides new and different ways to make glucose biosensors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention together with the above and other objects andadvantages may best be understood from the following detaileddescription of the preferred embodiments of the invention illustrated inthe drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1A is a block diagram representation of biosensor meter including abiosensor having an internal reference in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIGS. 1B, 1C, and 1D are diagrams respectively illustrating operationalmethods for use with the biosensor of FIG. 1 of the invention;

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C are charts showing three cyclic voltammograms ofMLB based glucose biosensors with ferrocyanide as the internal referencethe biosensor of FIG. 1 of the invention in whole blood samples of 0mg/dL glucose;

FIG. 3 is a chart illustrating a linear response of the biosensor ofFIG. 1 of the invention at different voltage operating potentials;

FIG. 4 is a chart illustrating effect of the added internal reference tothe overall voltammetric current using biosensors of FIG. 1 of theinvention with 10% printed ferricyanide as the counter electrode;

FIGS. 5A and 5B are charts illustrating linear response and increasedintercept with increasing internal reference of MLB based biosensors ofFIG. 1 of the invention with Ag/AgCl as the counter electrode;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are charts illustrating linear response and increasedintercept with increasing internal reference of MLB based biosensors ofFIG. 1 of the invention with 10% ferricyanide as the counter electrode;

FIG. 7 is a chart illustrating linear relationship of the calibrationintercept with increasing internal reference of DEX biosensors of FIG. 1of the invention with 10% ferricyanide as the counter electrode; and

FIGS. 8A and 8B are charts illustrating the ratio of signal to referenceresults from flow-injection-analysis (FIA) of the residual ferrocyanidefrom a control reagent ink and the reagent ink with 0.1% ferrocyanideadded to the reagent mixture of 20% ferricyanide of a biosensor of FIG.1 of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention relates to an electrochemical biosensor fordetermining the presence or amount of a substance in a sample. Thebiosensor includes sensor strips containing a working electrode and acounter electrode, each of which is at least partially covered with, forexample, a separate reagent layer. The reagent layer on the workingelectrode includes, for example, an enzyme that interacts with ananalyte through an oxidation-reduction reaction and also includes amediator that is the oxidized form of a redox couple. The biosensor ofthe invention includes an internal reference or a reduced form of themediator in the reagent layer on the working electrode. The internalreference is defined as an oxidizable species which in one embodimentcan be further defined as a reduced form of a reversible redox couplethat has an equal or higher redox potential than that of the mediator. Afixed quantative amount of the internal reference is provided in thereagent layer. The biosensors of the invention including the internalreference or added amount of the reduced form of mediator provide forimprovements in that the internal reference acts to anchor thecalibration intercept by nature of thermodynamics while maintaining thecalibration slope.

Many compounds are useful as mediators due to their ability to acceptelectrons from the reduced enzyme and transfer them to the electrode. Anecessary attribute of a mediator is the ability to remain in theoxidized state under the conditions present on the electrode surfaceprior to the use of the sensor. Among the more venerable mediators arethe oxidized form of organometallic compounds, organic molecules,transition metal coordination complexes. A specific example of mediatoris the potassium hexacyanoferrate (III), also known as ferricyanide.

As used in the following specification and claims, the term biosensormeans an electrochemical sensor strip or sensor element of an analyticaldevice or an instrument that responds selectively to analytes in anappropriate sample and converts their concentration into an electricalsignal. The biosensor generates an electrical signal directly,facilitating a simple instrument design. Also, a biosensor offers theadvantage of low material cost since a thin layer of chemicals isdeposited on the electrodes and little material is wasted.

The term “sample” is defined as a composition containing an unknownamount of the analyte of interest. Typically, a sample forelectrochemical analysis is in liquid form, and preferably the sample isan aqueous mixture. A sample may be a biological sample, such as blood,urine or saliva. A sample may be a derivative of a biological sample,such as an extract, a dilution, a filtrate, or a reconstitutedprecipitate.

The term “analyte” is defined as a substance in a sample, the presenceor amount of which is to be determined. An analyte interacts with theoxidoreductase enzyme present during the analysis, and can be asubstrate for the oxidoreductase, a coenzyme, or another substance thataffects the interaction between the oxidoreductase and its substrate.

The term “oxidoreductase” is defined as any enzyme that facilitates theoxidation or reduction of a substrate. The term oxidoreductase includes“oxidases,” which facilitate oxidation reactions in which molecularoxygen is the electron acceptor; “reductases,” which facilitatereduction reactions in which the analyte is reduced and molecular oxygenis not the analyte; and “dehydrogenases,” which facilitate oxidationreactions in which molecular oxygen is not the electron acceptor. See,for example, Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,Revised Edition, A. D. Smith, Ed., New York: Oxford University Press(1997) pp. 161, 476, 477, and 560.

The term “oxidation-reduction” reaction is defined as a chemicalreaction between two species involving the transfer of at least oneelectron from one species to the other species. This type of reaction isalso referred to as a “redox reaction.” The oxidation portion of thereaction involves the loss of at least one electron by one of thespecies, and the reduction portion involves the addition of at least oneelectron to the other species. The ionic charge of a species that isoxidized is made more positive by an amount equal to the number ofelectrons transferred. Likewise, the ionic charge of a species that isreduced is made less positive by an amount equal to the number ofelectrons transferred.

The term “oxidation number” is defined as the formal ionic charge of achemical species, such as an atom. A higher oxidation number, such as(III), is more positive, and a lower oxidation number, such as (II), isless positive. A neutral species has an ionic charge of zero. Oxidationof a species results in an increase in the oxidation number of thatspecies, and reduction of a species results in a decrease in theoxidation number of that species.

The term “redox pair” is defined as two species of a chemical substancehaving different oxidation numbers. Reduction of the species having thehigher oxidation number produces the species having the lower oxidationnumber. Alternatively, oxidation of the species having the loweroxidation number produces the species having the higher oxidationnumber.

The term “oxidizable species” is defined as the species of a redox pairhaving the lower oxidation number, and which is thus capable of beingoxidized into the species having the higher oxidation number. Likewise,the term “reducible species” is defined as the species of a redox pairhaving the higher oxidation number, and which is thus capable of beingreduced into the species having the lower oxidation number.

The term “organotransition metal complex,” also referred to as “OTMcomplex,” is defined as a complex where a transition metal is bonded toat least one carbon atom through a sigma bond (formal charge of −1 onthe carbon atom sigma bonded to the transition metal) or a pi bond(formal charge of 0 on the carbon atoms pi bonded to the transitionmetal). For example, ferrocene is an OTM complex with twocyclopentadienyl (Cp) rings, each bonded through its five carbon atomsto an iron center by two pi bonds and one sigma bond. Another example ofan OTM complex is ferricyanide (III) and its reduced ferrocyanide (II)counterpart, where six cyano ligands (formal charge of −1 on each of the6 ligands) are sigma bonded to an iron center through the carbon atomsof the cyano groups.

The term “coordination complex” is defined as a complex havingwell-defined coordination geometry, such as octahedral or square planargeometry. Unlike OTM complexes, which are defined by their bonding,coordination complexes are defined by their geometry. Thus, coordinationcomplexes may be OTM complexes (such as the previously mentionedferricyanide), or complexes where non-metal atoms other than carbon,such as heteroatoms including nitrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and phosphorous,are datively bonded to the transition metal center. For example,ruthenium hexaamine, or hexaaminoruthenate (II)/(III), is a coordinationcomplex having a well-defined octahedral geometry where six NH₃ ligands(formal charge of 0 on each of the 6 ligands) are datively bonded to theruthenium center. Ferricyanide is also an example of the coordinationcomplex that has the octahedral geometry. A more complete discussion oforganotransition metal complexes, coordination complexes, and transitionmetal bonding may be found in Collman et al., Principles andApplications of Organotransition Metal Chemistry (1987) and Miessler &Tarr, Inorganic Chemistry (1991).

The term “mediator” is defined as a substance that can be oxidized orreduced and that can transfer one or more electrons between a firstsubstance and a second substance. A mediator is a reagent in anelectrochemical analysis and is not the analyte of interest. In asimplistic system, the mediator undergoes a redox reaction with theoxidoreductase after the oxidoreductase has been reduced or oxidizedthrough its contact with an appropriate substrate. This oxidized orreduced mediator then undergoes the opposite reaction at the electrodeand is regenerated to its original oxidation number.

The term “electroactive organic molecule” is defined as an organicmolecule that does not contain a metal and that is capable of undergoingan oxidation or reduction reaction. Electroactive organic molecules canbehave as redox species and as mediators. Examples of electroactiveorganic molecules include coenzyme pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ),benzoquinones and naphthoquinones, N-oxides, nitroso compounds,hydroxylamines, oxines, flavins, phenazines, phenothiazines,indophenols, and indamines.

The term “electrode” is defined as an electrically conductive substancethat remains stationary during an electrochemical analysis. Examples ofelectrode materials include solid metals, metal pastes, conductivecarbon, conductive carbon pastes, and conductive polymers.

Having reference now to the drawings, in FIG. 1 there is illustrated abiosensor meter designated as a whole by the reference character 100 ofthe preferred embodiment and arranged in accordance with principles ofthe present invention. Biosensor meter 100 includes a biosensor 102arranged in accordance with principles of the present invention.Biosensor meter 100 includes microprocessor 104 together with anassociated memory 106 for storing program and user data. Digital datafrom the microprocessor 104 is applied to a digital-to-analog (D/A)converter 108. D/A converter 108 converts the digital data to an analogsignal. An amplifier 110 coupled to the D/A converter 108 amplifies theanalog signal. The amplified analog signal output of amplifier 110 isapplied to the biosensor 102 of the invention. Biosensor 102 is coupledto an amplifier 112. The amplified sensed signal is applied to ananalog-to-digital (A/D) converter 114 that converts the amplified,analog sensor signal to a digital signal. The digital signal is appliedto the microprocessor 104.

Most of the commercially available disposable biosensors used formonitoring blood glucose require the deposition/printing of a mixture ofan enzyme and a mediator with some binding agent. For the application ofglucose measurement, the mediator is in the oxidized form of a redoxcouple. Depending on the redox couple, the mediator can be a very strongoxidant, such as ferricyanide, thereby chemically oxidizing thefunctional groups after mixing with the enzyme and the binding agent.Subsequently, a small amount of the reduced mediator is formed asimpurity in the reagent in the processes of ink mixing, storage andprinting. Thus, the end result of mixing and printing the reagent ink isthe generation of the reduced form of the redox couple, giving rise tothe background current. The formation of this reduced form of themediator and thus the background current may vary from batch to batch.This process-generated reduced form of the mediator, such asferrocyanide from ferricyanide, can be oxidized in general to minimizethe background signal using the algorithm outlined in the U.S. Pat. Nos.5,620,579 and 5,653,863, to Genshaw et al., and assigned to the presentassignee. However, the process-dependent background signal, which istranslated into the calibration intercept, can be spread out in a rangeof values. At the extremes of these diverged values of intercept,analytical accuracy will be suffered because no reasonable calibrationintercept can be assigned to accommodate the diverged intercept.

In accordance with features of the invention, a grade of mediator thatcontains a certain level of the reduced form of the mediator in thereagent is used for decreasing the effect of the strong oxidant.Thermodynamically, the presence of a small amount of the reduced form ofthe mediator in the ink mixture of enzyme and mediator decreases thedriving force for the conversion from the oxidized to the reduced form.This is advantageously accomplished by adding a small fixed amount ofthe reduced form of the mediator to the oxidized mediator.

Even though background signal will be generated, the algorithm in theU.S. Pat. Nos. 5,620,579 and 5,653,863 will minimize the effect ofbackground to increase the accuracy of the glucose sensor. Theabove-identified patents disclose a method that reduces the backgroundbias due to oxidizable impurities in an amperometric sensor used formeasuring a specific analyte, such as glucose, in blood. The backgroundcurrent of such a sensor will increase if it is stored over a longperiod of time or under stress (heat, moisture, etc.) due to theincreased presence of reduced mediator or other reduced impurity presentin the sensor such as enzyme stabilizers, e.g. glutamate, andsurfactants having reducing equivalents. For example, in a ferricyanidebased amperometric sensor, the background bias is related to thepresence of ferrocyanide (from the reduction of ferricyanide) near theelectrode surface. This accumulated ferrocyanide, as opposed to theferrocyanide produced during use of the sensor (fresh ferrocyanide), isoxidized back to ferricyanide to reduce the background bias it causesand thereby extend the sensor shelf life. To achieve this objective, themethod uses an electrochemical approach. The background bias is furtherreduced when the electrochemical approach is augmented with analgorithmic correction.

The disclosed method involves first applying a positive potential pulse(called the “burn-off” pulse) which precedes the normal potentialprofile during use of the biosensor. This is typically accomplished byapplying a positive potential of from 0.1 to 0.9 volt (preferably 0.3 to0.7 volt) between the working and reference electrodes of the sensor fora period of from 1 to 15 seconds (preferably 5 to 10 seconds). Theburn-off pulse oxidizes the initial ferrocyanide (or other oxidizableimpurity), so that the sensor can begin the assay with a cleanbackground. Typically, the background is not perfectly clean since onlya portion of the oxidizable impurity is oxidized by the burn-off pulse.This is the case because the chemical layer covers both the working andthe counter electrodes. The initial ferrocyanide exists in the chemicallayer since it comes from ferricyanide. When sample fluid is applied andthe chemical layer re-hydrates, the ferrocyanide near the workingelectrode is re-oxidized. The rest of the ferrocyanide diffuses into thesample fluid and is mixed with the glucose. That portion of the initialferrocyanide cannot be re-oxidized without affecting the glucose. Theinitial ferrocyanide is near the electrode for a very short time (a fewseconds) after the fluid test sample is applied. The reason for this isthat the chemicals (enzyme and ferricyanide, etc.) are deposited as athin layer on the working and counter electrodes. The burn-off techniquetakes advantage of this since a significant amount of the initialferrocyanide can be burned off without noticeable reduction of theanalyte concentration in the fluid test sample most of which does notcome into direct contact with the electrode. Experiments havedemonstrated that the background bias of a stressed sensor can bereduced by 40% with proper application of the burn-off pulse.

The disclosed method of the U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,620,579 and 5,653,863advantageously is applied to minimize the effect of background signal toincrease the accuracy of the glucose biosensor meter 100 of thepreferred embodiment. The subject matter of the above-identified patentsis incorporated herein by reference.

In accordance with features of the invention, the added amount of thereduced form of mediator acts to anchor the calibration intercept bynature of thermodynamics while maintaining the calibration slope. Inlight of the function the reduced form of mediator, for example,ferrocyanide, plays in the glucose sensor, it is referred to as theinternal reference.

Examples of electroactive organic molecule mediators are described inU.S. Pat. No. 5,520,786, issued to Bloczynski et al. on May 28, 1996,and assigned to the present assignee. In particular, a disclosedmediator (compound 18 in TABLE 1) comprising3-phenylimino-3H-phenothiazine referred to herein as MLB-92, has beenused to make a glucose biosensor 102 in accordance with features of theinvention. The subject matter of the above-identified patent isincorporated herein by reference.

A commercially available biosensor meter and biosensor is manufacturedand sold by Bayer Corporation under the trademark Ascensia DEX. TheAscensia DEX biosensor includes generally as pure a form of ferricyanideas possible for the reagent. The Ascensia DEX biosensor has been used tomake a glucose biosensor 102 in accordance with features of theinvention by adding an adequate amount of ferrocyanide to the pureferricyanide. Benefits of adding ferrocyanide defining the internalreference of biosensor 102 to the Ascensia DEX reagent ink include animmediate benefit of increasing the intercept without changing slope,anchoring the intercept range, and increasing long-term stability ofbiosensor during storage.

In accordance with features of the invention, the MLB-92 mediator havinga lower redox potential was used to make a glucose biosensor 102 withspecial properties. With the addition of adequate amounts of theinternal reference, ferrocyanide, the new biosensor system can be madeto work with two operation potentials: (1) at 400 mV where both the newmediator and the internal reference are oxidized, and (2) at 100 mVwhere only the new mediator can be oxidized. The significance of thisapproach is two-fold. First, the glucose biosensor 102 such formulated(new mediator and internal reference) can be operated at a highpotential (+400 mV) to produce currents in a range that fits thecalibration characteristics of the hardware requirements of the existinginstrument. Secondly, since the lower redox potential and thus a loweroxidation power of the mediator will likely to have virtually noconversion of the oxidized form to the reduced form of the mediator, alower operation potential (0-100 mV) can be applied to the sensor so asto avoid the oxidation of the internal reference. Thus, a new set ofcalibration characteristics based on the new mediator, most likely withnear zero intercept due to the lower oxidation power, will lead to abetter analytical precision for glucose measurements. It will alsoreduce the matrix interference in the whole blood by avoiding theoxidation of some of the known oxidizable species such as uric acid andacetaminophen.

In accordance with features of the invention, another application of theinternal reference to glucose sensors 102 is to add adequately largeamount of internal reference to the biosensor system to produce a highcurrent response. Using the double steps algorithm with open circuitbetween them (Bayer U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,620,579 and 5,653,863), the firstpotential step is set at 400 mV to produce a current that is mostly dueto the internal reference signal while the second step is set at a lowpotential (0-100 mV) to produce a current signal related to the glucoseconcentration only. The ratio of the first signal, which should bevirtually independent of the whole blood hematocrit, to the secondsignal at low potential can be used to correct for the analytical biasdue to hematocrit effect.

In accordance with features of the invention, the internal reference isdefined as the oxidizable species which in one embodiment is furtherdefined as the reduced form of a reversible redox couple that has anequal or higher redox potential than that of the mediator. The conceptand use of an internal reference are very common in the field ofanalytical chemistry. However, no example of using an internal referencefor biosensors has been suggested in existing patents or literature. Inall three scenarios described above, the internal reference acts toincrease the response current additively for operation potentials thatoxidize both species and with glucose as the analyte; a total responsecurrent is represented by:

I _(total) =I _(int-ref) +I _(glucose)

I _(int-ref)∝(internal reference) and I_(glucose)≡(glucose);

Where I_(int-ref) is the portion of the total response current due tothe internal reference, while I_(glucose) is due to the oxidation ofmediator proportional to the glucose concentration.

In accordance with features of the invention, the internal reference canbe either the same mediator species or an oxidizable species with ahigher redox potential than the mediator. Thus for biosensors with a lowoperation potential oxidizing only the mediator, the current _(lint-ref)will be zero. However, for biosensors with a higher operation potentialthat oxidizes both species, the total response current will be the sumof the portion due to internal reference and that due to glucose. Sincethe internal reference concentration is fixed, the calibration slope ofthe sensor will only depend on the sensor response for glucose while theintercept will depend on the added amount of the internal reference. Inanother words, the internal reference will only offset the intercept andwill not change the calibration slope. Thus, the concept of internalreference provides new and different ways to make glucose biosensors.

Referring now to FIGS. 1B, 1C, and 1D, there are at least three modes ofoperation based on the use of internal reference for glucose biosensors102 of the invention. Potentiostatically, the three of modes ofoperation are represented in FIGS. 1B, 1C, and 1D. Each of theillustrated modes of operation include a first burnoff pulse, followedby a second wait period or open circuit, and a final third read pulse,each pulse or period having a selected duration, for example, 10seconds. In the basic and most immediate operation, ferrocyanide isretained in ferricyanide at the concentration of 0.1 to 1% of the totalferricyanide providing the internal reference for glucose biosensors 102of the invention. This is depicted in FIG. 1B where both potentials inthe first and the third periods are at the same voltage, for example 400mV. Retaining of a small percentage of ferrocyanide defining theinternal reference can be accomplished either by an appropriatepurification process of ferricyanide or by adding an adequate amount offerrocyanide to the pure ferricyanide. The outcome of these retainingprocesses is to keep deliberately a desirable amount of ferrocyanide inferricyanide as a special grade of ferricyanide. This is in contrast tothe conventional wisdom of having as pure a form of ferricyanide aspossible, such as for the DEX reagent, usually ferrocyanide in the orderof 0.05% of ferricyanide or less as impurity. The most desirable amountis 0.1% ferrocyanide in the final formulation for DEX sensor, which willlead to the anchoring of the calibration intercept at a narrower rangewhile maintaining the calibration slope for the DEX sensor.

In FIG. 1C the second mode of operation is shown, where a desirableamount of ferrocyanide (the internal reference) is added to the reagentof enzyme and a mediator with a redox potential lower than that of theinternal reference. The biosensor 102 is expected to work under high andlow potentials (for example at 400 mV and 100 mV vs. Ag/AgCl) forexisting instruments and instruments with a new hardware requirement.This biosensor can be operated in potential programs depicted in FIG. 1Bfor existing instruments 100 and FIG. 1C for new instruments 100.Examples of the mediator and internal reference combination include thesystem of MLB-92 and ferrocyanide as well as ruthenium hexaamine andferrocyanide. The separation of the two redox potentials is large enoughso that there will be generally no oxidation of the internal referencespecies when operated at the low voltage.

In FIG. 1D the third mode of operation is shown, where a higher butdesirable concentration of ferrocyanide is added to the reagent mixtureof enzyme and a mediator with a redox potential lower than that of theinternal reference. The amount of the internal reference would produce acurrent equivalent to about 50% to 75% of the full scale in thecalibration range preferably. In the operation algorithm, the firstpotential step is set to oxidize both the mediator and the internalreference (400 mV) while the second potential step for the read pulse isto oxidize the mediator only (0-100 mV). The current in the firstpotential step of FIG. 1D will be most pertinent to the internalreference that is immediately next to the electrode and should havevirtually no hematocrit effect. The ratio of the current from the secondstep to that from the first step will provide a correction for theanalytical bias due to hematocrit effect.

Experiments have been carried out to show the feasibility of the methodof adding internal reference to a mediator system to overcome existingproblems or to enhance sensor performance in accordance with thebiosensor 102 of the invention.

Referring now to FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C, there are shown three cyclicvoltammograms illustrating operation of the biosensor 102 of theinvention. The illustrated three cyclic voltammograms are for MLB basedglucose biosensors 102 with ferrocyanide as the internal reference inwhole blood samples of 0 mg/dL glucose.

FIG. 2A illustrates working electrode vs. ferricyanide counterelectrode, FIG. 2B illustrates working electrode vs. silver (Ag) andsilver chloride (AgCl) or Ag/AgCl counter electrode and FIG. 2Cillustrates working electrode vs. MLB-92 counter electrode. Respectivepeaks labeled 1 and 2 represent the oxidation of the mediator MLB_(red)(reduced form of MLB) and the internal reference ferrocyaniderespectively for all three voltammogram plots. The oxidation peak forMLB_(red) shifts along the potential scale as the redox couple on thecounter electrode changes from ferricyanide to Ag/AgCl to MLB-92.However, it can be seen that the relative position of the mediatorMLB-92 to the internal reference ferrocyanide is the same in all threevoltammogram plots of FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C.

Referring to FIG. 3, there shown in FIG. 3 is a chart illustrating alinear response of the biosensor 102 of the invention at differentvoltage operating potentials. The biosensor 102 is operated at (1) 400mV potential and (2) 150 mV potential. FIG. 3 illustrates the lineardose response of MLB-92 mediator based biosensor 102 with 20 mMferrocyanide as the internal reference. Respective lines labeled EXAMPLE1 and EXAMPLE 2 are from 400 mV and 150 mV operation potentials againstAg/AgCl counter electrode. As shown in FIG. 3, the biosensor 102 givesvirtually the same slope but with different intercepts for operations at400 mV and 150 mV potentials. This result demonstrates that the internalreference can be selectively oxidized or avoided by the operationpotential. Thus, one biosensor 102 can serve for two different meters.

Examples of the biosensor 102 have been prepared systematically showingthe increase of intercept with increasing ferrocyanide as the internalreference while the slopes were kept virtually unchanged. Three workingelectrode reagents were prepared in the following formulations. Thesethree reagents were pin-deposited on to two sensor formats: (1) Ag/AgClas the counter electrode, (2) 10% printed ferricyanide as the counterelectrode.

Enzyme, Internal PQQ- Mediator Reference Buffer and Formulations GDHMLB-92 Ferricyanide binding agent, 1 20 unit/μL 24 mM 0 mM 0.1M NaCl +phosphate, 1% CMC 2 20 unit/μL 24 mM 4 mM 0.1M NaCl + phosphate, 1% CMC3 20 unit/μL 24 mM 8 mM 0.1M NaCl + phosphate, 1% CMC

FIG. 4 illustrates effect of the added internal reference to the overallvoltammetric current using biosensors 102 of the invention with 10%printed ferricyanide as the counter electrode. FIG. 4 provides cyclicvoltammograms of sensors with ferrocyanide as the internal reference inwhole blood samples of 0 mg/L glucose. Voltammograms labeled A, B and Care with formulations 1, 2 and 3 respectively all with a counterelectrode of 10% printed ferricyanide.

The effect of the added internal reference to the overall voltammetriccurrent is shown in FIG. 4 using sensors with 10% printed ferricyanideas the counter electrode. The main oxidation/reduction peaks here arecentered around −0.38 Volt vs. 10% ferricyanide, which is due to themediator MLB. The oxidation peak at about 0-50 mV is due to the internalreference of ferrocyanide. While the oxidation peak for the internalreference ferrocyanide increases with the increases of the internalreference concentration from 0 to 4 to 8 mM, the oxidation peak for themediator is virtually unchanged. Here the concept of internal referenceis explained further by the fact that the main oxidation peak ofMLB_(red) is unaffected by the presence of the internal reference.

Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, charts illustrating linear response andincreased intercept with increasing internal reference of MLB basedbiosensors 102 of the invention with Ag/AgCl as the counter electrodeare shown. FIG. 5A illustrates the linear dose response of MLB basedbiosensors 102 with 0, 4, and 8 mM ferrocyanide, respectively labeledEXAMPLE 1, EXAMPLE 2, and EXAMPLE 3. FIG. 5B illustrates intercept andslope as a function of added ferrocyanide in the working electrodereagent of the biosensor 102 of the invention. All three sensors usedAg/AgCl as the counter electrode.

Referring also to FIGS. 6A and 6B, charts illustrating linear responseand increased intercept with increasing internal reference of MLB basedbiosensors 102 of the invention with 10% ferricyanide as the counterelectrode are shown. FIG. 6A illustrates the linear dose response of MLBbased biosensors 102 with 0, 4, and 8 mM ferrocyanide, respectivelylabeled EXAMPLE 1, EXAMPLE 2, and EXAMPLE 3. FIG. 6B illustratesintercept and slope as a function of added ferrocyanide in the workingelectrode reagent of the biosensor 102 of the invention. All threesensors used 10% printed ferricyanide as the counter electrode.

In the dose response experiments, both sensor series with Ag/AgClcounter electrode of FIGS. 5A and 5B, and 10% ferricyanide counterelectrode of FIGS. 6A and 6B show linear response and increasedintercept with increasing internal reference. For practical purpose, theslope of the three sensors in FIGS. 5A and 5B is unchanged while theintercept increases linearly with the added ferrocyanide. The samelinear relationship of intercept with added ferrocyanide and the flatslope trend are repeated in sensor series with the % printedferricyanide as the counter electrode, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B.

Experiments have been carried out to show the addition of ferrocyanideto DEX reagent ink, modification of calibration intercept withoutchanging slope in accordance with the biosensor 102 of the invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates linear relationship of the calibration intercept withincreasing internal reference of DEX type biosensors 102 of theinvention. Five different formulations in a set format labeled BC7 inFIG. 7 were made with 0, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06 and 0.08% ferrocyanide mixedin the standard DEX reagent for the DEX sensor. The regression slope andintercepts for these five sensors of the BC7 format are shown in FIG. 7.Except for sensor with 0.06% ferrocyanide due to the experimentalproblems, the intercepts of the other four sensors give a nice linearfunction with respect to the added amount of ferrocyanide as theinternal reference. On the other hand, the slopes of all five sensorsfall in a flat line indicating that the addition of the internalreference does not change the slope of the DEX type biosensors 102 ofthe invention.

FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate the ratio of signal to reference results fromflow-injection-analysis (FIA) of the residual ferrocyanide from acontrol reagent ink and the reagent ink with 0.1% ferrocyanide added tothe reagent mixture of 20% ferricyanide of a biosensor 102 of theinvention. One of the subtle effects of adding the internal referenceferrocyanide to the DEX reagent ink is to decrease the driving force forthe conversion of the mediator ferricyanide to ferrocyanide. Thus,ferricyanide becomes the source of the residual current in the DEXsensor. One way of showing this subtle effect is to monitor the increaseof the residual current (background current) of the reagent ink withinternal reference along with the control reagent ink over a long periodof time. Both reagent inks were stored in refrigeration (2-8° C.) overseveral weeks. FIG. 8 shows the results of FIA of the residualferrocyanide from both reagent inks. From FIG. 8, the ratio ofsignal-to-reference (S/R) represents the relative amount of ferrocyanidefrom the reagent ink compared to the added ferrocyanide as the referencein FIA. Thus, the higher the value of S/R from the FIA analysis, thehigher the ferrocyanide in the reagent inks. It can be seen from FIG. 8Athat the S/R value increase over the period of six weeks for both thecontrol inks and the reagent ink with added ferrocyanide. However, thereagent ink curve with added ferrocyanide has a slower increase ofresidual current over the period of six weeks compared to controlcurves. In FIG. 8B, the S/R response curves from the control inks andthe reagent ink with added ferrocyanide are merged together forcomparison. To the first order approximation (since the coefficients forthe second order terms of both second order polynomials are very small),the rate of residual current increase over six weeks duringrefrigeration is about 30% ([0.0918-0.06381/0.0918=30%) smaller for thereagent ink curve with added ferrocyanide than for the control curves.Thus, it may be understood from FIGS. 8A and 8B that the rate of theferricyanide-to-ferrocyanide conversion in reagent ink is decreasedsubstantially by the addition of the internal reference ferrocyanide tothe DEX reagent ink in accordance with biosensor 102 of the invention.

While the present invention has been described with reference to thedetails of the embodiments of the invention shown in the drawings, thesedetails are not intended to limit the scope of the invention as claimedin the appended claims.

1-11. (canceled)
 12. A method of use of a biosensor including a mixtureof an enzyme, a mediator, and an oxidizable species as an internalreference, said method comprising the steps of: applying a first voltagepotential in a first period; providing a set delay period; applying asecond voltage potential in a final period following said delay period;and wherein said first voltage potential and said second voltagepotential are selectively provided for oxidizing only said mediator orboth said mediator and said internal reference.
 13. A method as recitedin claim 12 wherein the step of applying a first voltage potential in afirst period includes the step of applying a selected high first voltagepotential in the first period for oxidizing said mediator and saidinternal reference.
 14. A method as recited in claim 12 wherein the stepof applying a first voltage potential in a first period includes thestep of applying a selected low first voltage potential in the firstperiod for oxidizing only said mediator.
 15. A method as recited inclaim 12 wherein the step of applying a second voltage potential in afinal period following said delay period includes the step of applying aselected second voltage potential for oxidizing said mediator and saidinternal reference.
 16. A method as recited in claim 12 wherein the stepof applying a second voltage potential in a final period following saiddelay period includes the step of applying a selected second voltagepotential for oxidizing only said mediator.
 17. A method as recited inclaim 12 wherein the steps of applying said first voltage potential andapplying said second voltage potential includes the steps of applying aselected voltage potential in a range between 100 mV and 400 mV.
 18. Amethod as recited in claim 12 wherein the steps of applying said firstvoltage potential and applying said second voltage potential includesthe steps of applying a selected first voltage potential in the firstperiod for oxidizing both said mediator and said internal reference; andapplying a selected second voltage potential for oxidizing only saidmediator.
 19. A method as recited in claim 12 wherein the biosensorincludes a mediator comprising one of 3-phenylimino-3H-phenothiazine andruthenium hexaamine; and wherein the internal reference comprisesferrocyanide; and wherein the steps of applying said first voltagepotential and applying said second voltage potential includes the stepsof applying a selected first and second voltage potential for oxidizingonly said mediator.
 20. A method as recited in claim 12 wherein thesteps of applying said first voltage potential and applying said secondvoltage potential includes the steps of applying a selected first andsecond voltage potential for oxidizing both said mediator and saidinternal reference; wherein said internal reference effectivelyanchoring a calibration intercept within a narrow range and saidinternal reference effectively maintaining a calibration slope for thebiosensor.